Homemade Butter
This recipe is inspired from a wonderful book, "Food, Gift, Love" by Maggie Battista. When giving butter as a gift, I like to wrap it in unbleached parchment and tie it with kitchen string.
Equipment
- Food Processor
- Cheesecloth
Ingredients
- 1 pint heavy cream
- ½ cup cold water
- ⅛ tsp fine sea salt plus more to taste
Instructions
- Line a fine-mesh strainer with 4 layers of cheesecloth and place it over a deep bowl. Set aside.
- Place the cream into the bowl of a food processor. Blend 4 to 5 minutes until the butter separates from the liquid (the buttermilk). When most of the butter has separated from the buttermilk and formed tiny curd-=like bits, turn off the food processor. The process will go something like this: 1. After 1 minute, the cream starts to become whipped cream.2. After 1½ minutes, the mixture takes on a slightly pale yellow hue.3. After 4½ minutes, check it and feel the consistency. It should feel like soft butter.
- With a rubber spatula, scoop the entire contents of the food processor into the cheesecloth. (If it leaks through the cheesecloth then it's likely not yet separated enough-return it to the food processor and keep blending.) Press down on the butter to help push out all the remaining buttermilk. To further help it along, pull up the sides of the cheesecloth to fully enclose the butter. Squeeze and press on the cheesecloth to push out any remaining buttermilk.
- Clean out the bowl of your food processor completely. Remove the butter from the cheesecloth and return it to the food processor. Add the col water. Turn the food processor on for 30 seconds to clean the butter. This helps to wash the butter and remove extra buttermilk. (This is important because any remaining buttermilk will cause the butter to sour.)
- Return the butter to the cheesecloth in the sieve. Squeeze out any remaining buttermilk. Place the butter in a bowl. Using a rubber spatula, mix it with the sea salt.
- Store the butter well wrapped in plastic wrap and sealed in airtight container in the fridge up to 1 week or in the freezer up to 3 months. Store the buttermilk separately and use within 3 days.
